Yoga positions and baby position « Back to Group Discussions

[Meggsy]

Hi again!

I was in yoga yesterday and did "legs on the wall" after which I am pretty sure the baby turned to an upside down position. He has yet to hiccup since then so I can;t be totally sure, but something significant changed. I had been so glad that he seemed to have been head down for the past few weeks. My friend is a midwife and she showed me how to check, but he is positioned kind of weirdly now and can;t be totally sure. So I just wanted to do some things that would promote head down since I am in week 36 right now and space is starting to get tight. I don't want to try to invert him just yet. Just promote a nice head down position, and avoid the positions (and yoga moves) that would encourage a breech position. I read yesterday that a lot of people don't recommend doing the legs on the wall position because it can change the baby's position - wish I had read that first! 

Thanks for any suggestions!

[maydaymom10]

There's a spinning babies position that is similar to legs up the wall, except your knees are bent  & resting on a chair. The additional bend of the knee might relax the uterus enough to not cause baby to turn. In my prenatal class, I try not to do a lot of on the back exercises just because of this. Honestly, unless you're taking a class where you're holding the position for an extended period of time, I wouldn't worry too much. 

If you haven't checked out Spinning Babies, then it's definitely worth doing so. She has a lot of great suggestions for positions that encourage optimal fetal positions, and also advice on how to help flip a breech. There's also some yoga suggestions on there. Good luck!

[Meggsy]

I found spinning babies a little overwhelming when I looked at it a few weeks ago. It kind of made me more worried. But there was a good recommendation for a modified bridge pose that I recalled, and I did that and then sat with very good posture for a few hours and he seems to have turned around! So...I am going to just make sure to do yoga and walk every day and stay away from poses that might flip him some more. There seems to be debate as to what these are but I think it is safe to say I am done with legs up the wall! 

[withlittlelungs]

here's my doula's blog with a much more organized version of techniques on spinning babies: http://wonderfullymadebelliesandbabies.blogspot.com/2011/08/breech-options.html

[cabbitdancer]

Thank you, WLL, for that link! I found spinningbabies.com made my head spin. Your doula's blog is much, much easier to follow.